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Montana KHKM Missoula Booster / KDXT

M

michaeljwyo1

Didn't take 'em long. Dipole on top of the little tower on top of the building where the studios are on North Ave. The STL dish has been there a while. KDXT, and KDXT HD2 studios are also in that building. I don't think Reed Butte (where the main is) is visible from there. I think the STL belongs to KDXT HD-2's translator (94.3 The Ride) which is up on Mt. Dean Stone just to the Southeast. I know that translator isn't fed from KDXT's HD2 signal because...well you have to have the HD on to do that. At present, KDXT's HD is on, but only for the main, no sub-channels. That dish may also be a relay to feed KDXT's main transmitter on Reed Butte near Stevensville (about a mile away from my house) Been thinking about going up there to try to get some pictures of the towers. Also speaking of KDXT, their HD-3 (when it's on) is the infamous "Boomer 104" (see other thread) on 104.1 translator in Missoula. Also now on 106.3 in Hamilton. I believe that one is fed by internet or some sort of digital line that can't keep up. They keep going dead for a moment and then pops back on and "catches up" with itself. Kinda like when you use fast-forward. That translator actually sounds better than the 104.1 translator.
But I digress (as usual).

Michael - Stevensville, MT
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But 102.5 and 107.9 remain silent frequencies, correct?
KDXT "The Ranch" is a pretty good station, too. Decent variety of classic and newer country.
 
Yeah 102.5 and 107.9 are silent. I do agree that KDXT isn't too bad for country. I wish there were a true classic country station in the market. I mean - it's Montana. You would think it'd work. But nobody seems to be doing it. Anderson could put that on KYLT 1340...I think it'd have more listenership than "the Lounge" - which I believe is what used to be Adult Standards (which has evolved). Classic Country's a good format for an AM station - I think people would listen. Very EASY to program as well. It's like oldies. It never changes. No new music to add. Do up the hard drive and let it run. Some discussion for a new thread :)
 
After a couple of weeks of tuning in (and now my daily commute from the Bitterroot Valley to north of Missoula every day) I've noticed that the signal is marginal. Don't get me wrong, the booster is good when you're near it...and where it's shielded from the main signal. Otherwise it's kind of a mess and I think the main is mixing with the booster making it kinda messy. South end of town, it's a lot more scratchy and sometimes unlistenable or not there at all. You can tell as you move into town where the signals are mixing back and forth and interfering with each other. The booster concept works well if you are truly shielded well from the main. In the SLC metro in Utah, there's a cluster of transmitters on a peak in the mountains to the east and the signal hardly makes it into the metro at all. Plus most, if not all, of those stations are running the main transmitters on lower power to minimize the interference to the boosters inside the metro. I've been waiting to see if Jacobs is going to do the same. There are "clear" areas in Missoula - at least within a mile or two of the booster but by all means no it doesn't cover the city very well. It's a small tower on top of a building. I feel like there's just a lot of interference from the main signal.
 
Apparently some full powered FM signals are for sale per a "behind the paywall" tickler at RadioTVDeals. Missoula and the Bitterroot Valley is overrun with stations.. Truly a "flood". Geologists will get that joke.
 
Saw this posting at :

mchenterprises.com

Stations For Sale & Sold - MCH Enterprises

MCH Enterprises.Com Radio Stations for Sale & Sold Stations For Sale: CALIFORNIA: NEW IN MONTEREY COUNTY: TWO FMs, ONE AM, AND THREE FX: Delivering long‑established local service in one of California’s most stable agricultural corridors. The cluster extends coverage throughout a fast‑growing...
mchenterprises.com mchenterprises.com


Any guesses?
----
MONTANA:

100,000 WATT FM. This Station was recently acquired and is now available for $250,000. Seller will consider terms from a qualified Buyer. Upon acquisition, Seller installed new equipment, a new automation system, and has been granted a Construction Permit for an FM-1 booster which will be located at the office/studio in the heart of the market. The booster is almost completed so upon purchase the booster will be up and running WITH 2,700 WATTS ERP. Set up for remote operations, there is also an office/studio with all the required equipment so it’s your choice: local or remote.
 
RF101 said:
Saw this posting at :

mchenterprises.com

Stations For Sale & Sold - MCH Enterprises

MCH Enterprises.Com Radio Stations for Sale & Sold Stations For Sale: CALIFORNIA: NEW IN MONTEREY COUNTY: TWO FMs, ONE AM, AND THREE FX: Delivering long‑established local service in one of California’s most stable agricultural corridors. The cluster extends coverage throughout a fast‑growing...
mchenterprises.com mchenterprises.com


Any guesses?
----
MONTANA:

100,000 WATT FM. This Station was recently acquired and is now available for $250,000. Seller will consider terms from a qualified Buyer. Upon acquisition, Seller installed new equipment, a new automation system, and has been granted a Construction Permit for an FM-1 booster which will be located at the office/studio in the heart of the market. The booster is almost completed so upon purchase the booster will be up and running WITH 2,700 WATTS ERP. Set up for remote operations, there is also an office/studio with all the required equipment so it’s your choice: local or remote.
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KHKM. it is the only station in Montana with a 2.7kw on channel booster.
 
Yup. That would be them. I guess it's not pulling in the listenership that they thought it would. Especially with the multi-path and interference to itself with the booster. Jacobs may also have found out that the "classic hip hop" format isn't doing so well with them...which is quite the possibility as well. When Cherry Creek had this station, they had a translator in Missoula. This seems like the only way this station would have a chance at anything. Unfortunately when Townsquare bought Cherry Creek, they sold off the main and kept the translator and put one of their HD2's on it. (KGGL 93.3-HD2). 100,000 watts seems to be the selling point. Yet even at that wattage, mountains are still mountains. There was an exact situation in Utah (KJQN) where they were 100,000 watts and yet still couldn't make it to Salt Lake City with a clear signal due to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake that was partially in the way, even though the transmitter was about the same distance from Salt Lake as KHKM is from Missoula. If perspective owners do their research or happen to come to this forum, they'd know a lot more about it. Move it or translator it. That's just the only way it's gonna work.
 
michaeljwyo1 said:
Yup. That would be them. I guess it's not pulling in the listenership that they thought it would. Especially with the multi-path and interference to itself with the booster. Jacobs may also have found out that the "classic hip hop" format isn't doing so well with them...which is quite the possibility as well. When Cherry Creek had this station, they had a translator in Missoula. This seems like the only way this station would have a chance at anything. Unfortunately when Townsquare bought Cherry Creek, they sold off the main and kept the translator and put one of their HD2's on it. (KGGL 93.3-HD2). 100,000 watts seems to be the selling point. Yet even at that wattage, mountains are still mountains. There was an exact situation in Utah (KJQN) where they were 100,000 watts and yet still couldn't make it to Salt Lake City with a clear signal due to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake that was partially in the way, even though the transmitter was about the same distance from Salt Lake as KHKM is from Missoula. If perspective owners do their research or happen to come to this forum, they'd know a lot more about it. Move it or translator it. That's just the only way it's gonna work.
Click to expand...

The station im on in SE WY only really works because of the booster. KLMI shows 60 dbu service over Laramie...... but the tower is about 25 miles NW of Laramie and theres a mountain in between our tower and laramie. The signal about makes it to the NW edge of laramie without the booster. One time we shut off the booster to do some work on it for a few minutes and the signal disappeared on the radio in the northern part of the city. the booster is necessary. And it cant move closer to laramie because of 106.3 cheyenne and 105.9 denver.
 
michaeljwyo1 said:
...." 100,000 watts seems to be the selling point. Yet even at that wattage, mountains are still mountains. There was an exact situation in Utah (KJQN) where they were 100,000 watts and yet still couldn't make it to Salt Lake City with a clear signal due to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake that was partially in the way, even though the transmitter was about the same distance from Salt Lake as KHKM is from Missoula. .."
Click to expand...

I had to look up the reference to KJQN.. Several Utah FMs.used that call sign. It is Ogden's 95.5 , now BBN'S KYFO-FM , that suffers from the Antelope Island ricochet.
 
RF101 said:
I had to look up the reference to KJQN.. Several Utah FMs.used that call sign. It is Ogden's 95.5 , now BBN'S KYFO-FM , that suffers from the Antelope Island ricochet.
Click to expand...
Sorry for the late reply. Yep you are correct. Should have been more specific. Original KJQN Ogden at 95.5 KJQ is what they went by so when they said their legal ID it sounded like they were saying "KJQ in Ogden and Salt Lake City". This was back in the late 80s. KJQN-AM was Kahn AM Stereo and the FM was on a site called "Little Mountain" west of Ogden near the Great Salt Lake. I worked for KRPN in Roy, UT at the time and we were even higher on Promontory Peak further west of Little Mountain, and it STILL wouldn't make it to Salt Lake clear because of Antelope Island. We had a translator in SLC at 92.1. We went by "WKRP"...which we made sound like "W-KRP in Roy, Ogden and Salt Lake City." That was cutting it a little too close and I think they may have gotten in trouble or something....so our ID became "WKRP Salt Lake City. KRPN Roy, Ogden and Davis County." Fun times!
 
michaeljwyo1 said:
Sorry for the late reply. Yep you are correct. Should have been more specific. Original KJQN Ogden at 95.5 KJQ is what they went by so when they said their legal ID it sounded like they were saying "KJQ in Ogden and Salt Lake City". This was back in the late 80s. KJQN-AM was Kahn AM Stereo and the FM was on a site called "Little Mountain" west of Ogden near the Great Salt Lake. I worked for KRPN in Roy, UT at the time and we were even higher on Promontory Peak further west of Little Mountain, and it STILL wouldn't make it to Salt Lake clear because of Antelope Island. We had a translator in SLC at 92.1. We went by "WKRP"...which we made sound like "W-KRP in Roy, Ogden and Salt Lake City." That was cutting it a little too close and I think they may have gotten in trouble or something....so our ID became "WKRP Salt Lake City. KRPN Roy, Ogden and Davis County." Fun times!
Click to expand...

@michaeljwyo1 my boss in Wyoming.. his step father worked in SLC radio in the 70s and 80s, worked at W-KRPN and ended up owning an FM in Laramie ... but not the one my Laramie owns and they didnt have any stake in his single. Step father is Randy Timothy... and the station they owned was what was way back when, KRQU 104.5.

They were also part owners of KSLL 1080 and KWSA 100.1 about 20 years ago
 
OMG Randy! Yep! Actually it's he and David B. Smith (my boss) that owned KSLL and KWSA ... I did work for them there too. As a matter of fact, it's KSLL (formally KRPX) 1080 in Price that I got the AM Stereo equipment that I have, that I installed at KEVA. I remember David said I could have it and put it in at KEVA because they weren't using it anymore at KSLL. KRPX was one of the "trial" stations that Motorola did for AM Stereo back in 1981. But yeah I knew Randy and did some work there as well at KRQU and KLDI. I did a little voice tracking for KIMX too. I think they had that one too or maybe LMA'd it. Wow small world!
 
michaeljwyo1 said:
OMG Randy! Yep! Actually it's he and David B. Smith (my boss) that owned KSLL and KWSA ... I did work for them there too. As a matter of fact, it's KSLL (formally KRPX) 1080 in Price that I got the AM Stereo equipment that I have, that I installed at KEVA. I remember David said I could have it and put it in at KEVA because they weren't using it anymore at KSLL. KRPX was one of the "trial" stations that Motorola did for AM Stereo back in 1981. But yeah I knew Randy and did some work there as well at KRQU and KLDI. I did a little voice tracking for KIMX too. I think they had that one too or maybe LMA'd it. Wow small world
Click to expand...

KRQU way back in the day was on 104.5... it was moved elsewhere, 98.7 was an addition by Vic Michaels at some point. That became KRQU. 104.5 was added back by Steve Silberberg well after the 104.5 that was KRQU had moved. KIMX had also been on 96.7 at one point I think, but that was moved to Nunn CO on 96.9

As far as I know, Randy and his wife Jerri only had one laramie station.. they owned it and they were the ones that sold 104.5 to Silberberg.
 


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